China launched large-scale national ecological restoration programs, such as the Three-North Shelter Forest Program in 1978, and then two of the largest conservation programs in the world: the Natural Forest Protection Project (1998) banned logging, and the Grain to Green Program (2000) incentivized afforestation. In addition, regional and local ecological restoration and afforestation projects contribute to the ‘greening’ of China. Together, these restoration and afforestation projects have greatly increased forest coverage and ecosystem carbon sequestration, and improved ecosystem services [
7]. Recent satellite data (2000–17) shows that China is leading the increase in greening on Earth (25%) with forests contributing to 42% of greening in China [
8].
Promoting biodiversity conservation
While China rapidly industrialized and pursued numerous development projects, it also learned of the need to mitigate developmental impacts on biodiversity [
9]. China has rolled out a number of programs to address the biodiversity issues, and the mainstreaming of biodiversity conservation has been embraced throughout all levels of government. In order to strengthen the effectiveness of its Protected Area (PA) system, which covers ∼18% of the country's land, China has initiated reforms to establish a system of protected natural areas with national parks as its mainstay. Other accomplishments include the promulgation of laws, establishment of nature reserve networks, creation of national catalogues of species, assessment of threatened status of vertebrates, higher plants and macrofungi and setting conservation priorities for them; and use of
in situ and
ex situ strategies to conserve genetic, species and ecosystem diversity [
10]. Many threatened species such as the giant panda, Père David's deer and crested ibis have begun to recover and will likely avoid extinction.
The Ecological Conservation Redline
A focal point of EC is a national ecological conservation system called the Ecological Conservation Redline (ECR). The ECR was first proposed in 2011, formally adopted in 2017, and the national delimitation on land is expected to be finished by 2020 while efforts to extend it into the marine realm are underway. ECR is designed to constrain human activities in areas important to maintaining national ecological security and which provide essential ecosystem services, including water and soil conservation, biodiversity maintenance, windbreaks and sand-fixation, along with ecologically fragile regions that are prone to soil erosion, desertification and salinization. ECR will expand China's protected area system to cover about 25% of China's land. The completed ECR system is expected to protect more than 95% of China's most valuable ecosystems, 100% of animal and plant habitats under state key conservation, 95% of the best natural landscape resources and 210 important river headwaters, all ecologically fragile areas and important for maintaining ecological function [
11].
Fighting pollution
China's rapid industrialization and urbanization have given rise to pollution problems that affect both human health and biodiversity. Concerted efforts have been made since 2013 to improve air, soil and water quality. The Chinese government has issued the Air Pollution Prevention and Control Action Plan, Water Pollution Prevention and Control Action Plan, and Soil Pollution Prevention and Control Action Plan, in 2013, 2015 and 2016, respectively. Specific targets by 2020 and 2030 and specific measures were adopted for each Action Plan. A target of zero growth in chemical fertilizer and pesticide use by 2020 was set in 2015. Better definition of roles and responsibilities across levels of government have improved management and coordinated implementation. With the implementation of these Action Plans, air, water and soil quality in China have improved. For example, 157 of China's 337 prefecture-level cities have met the air quality standard in 2019, and these 337 cities on average enjoy 82% of days with good air quality [
12].
Implementing green development
China has proposed a comprehensive economic-ecological production framework called ‘Gross Economic-Ecological Product Accounting’ (GEEP) in its evaluation of local governments, which will help spark an industrial transformation and shift the economy to resource-saving and recycling, renewable energy and low-carbon emissions. Another approach recently adopted is to transform ecological advantages into economic advantages. The Kubuqi Desert Eco-Economy embodies this new ecological business model. Market-based mechanisms, with cooperation between government and private enterprises, are employed to achieve sustainable development goals, including restoration of degraded land and improvement in the provision of ecological services and products.
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